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More Contractor Coziness with Southwestern College Officials
I'm an architect with one of the firms who was not selected to do the corner parcel project. There were 7 other firms besides BCA that participated in a design competition for this project. Design competitions are extremely costly endeavors. Our firm spent tens of thousands of dollars pursuing this sham. I assume the other non-winning firms spent a comparable sum. Most of these firms are small businesses, so this wasn't exactly chump change. The decision to spend this money was based on a business decision founded on the belief that there was a level playing field and that the best design would truly win. I know this sounds like sour grapes, but BCA's design was far from the best. There were several proposals that were far more appropriate than BCA's. I beleive that each of these firms, as well as the construction management firms that were vying for the bond program management contract, have legal recourse with the College. Normally the cost of pursuing these projects is assumed to be a normal cost of business, however the College knowingly enticed firms into spending money pursuing work that these firms had zero chance of winning just so that the College could create the illusion of a fair process. I think these firms should all go after the College for their costs and let the College recoup that money from Alioto, Amigable and John Wilson.— January 9, 2012 9:05 a.m.